Legendary Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett is ready to hang up his hat and announced on Saturday that he intends to step down and name billionaire investor and Vice Chairman Greg Abel as his replacement.
"I think the time has arrived where Greg should become the chief executive of the company at year end," Buffett said at Berkshire's annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.
Abel, 62, has been vice chair since 2018.
Buffett has reached the ripe old age of 94, and sees now as the time to pass on his legacy.
Warren Buffett just got a 10 minute long standing ovation after announcing his retirement.
— Spencer Hakimian (@SpencerHakimian) May 3, 2025
Curtain call for the captain.
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Buffett said that he was not going to just disappear, though; he will still lurk in the background:
Abel joined the former MidAmerican Energy, now known as Berkshire Hathaway Energy, in 1992, eight years before Berkshire took it over.
Buffett, 94, said he would "hang around" the conglomerate after retiring as CEO, according to CNBC.
He said he has no plans to sell his shares in Berkshire Hathaway, which are expected to be donated after his death.
"I would add this, the decision to keep every share is an economic decision because I think the prospects of Berkshire will be better under Greg’s management than mine," he added.
The billionaire has been somewhat mysterious in his political leanings and did not back Kamala Harris for president despite his reputation as a liberal.
BREAKING: Billionaire Warren Buffet revealed Wednesday that he will not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election.
— MARK SIMONE (@MarkSimoneNY) October 24, 2024
Even those that alway endorse the Democrat, like Buffett and the LA Times, can't bring themselves to endorse…
Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s Sharp-Witted Right-Hand Man, Passes at 99
As I reported in October ’24, Buffett didn’t want to get overly involved in the political drama:
Now, the Harris-Walz trainwreck campaign has taken another body blow: influential billionaire investor Warren Buffett has also refused to get on board, saying he needs to protect his employees. Translation, he’s a legendary prognosticator—or he wouldn’t be a billionaire financier—and he sees the writing on the wall.
Although the Berkshire Hathaway CEO has been a Democrat supporter in the past, he is sitting on the sidelines for this one.
The homespun investor has amassed quite the fortune:
The conglomerate is now worth more than $1 trillion and Buffett is worth more than $168 billion, although he still lives in the modest Nebraska home he bought for $31,500 in 1958.
His son, Howard, is also expected to succeed him as non-executive chairman of Berkshire.
Buffett is considered a liberal by many and has supported candidates like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in the past. However, the "Sage of Omaha” is also considered a pragmatist when compared to so many of the far-left Democrat politicians who dominate the headlines today.
Whatever you think of him, he certainly is an interesting guy and has had immense success in his endeavors.
“Ask yourself who you’d want to spend the last day of your life with and then meet with them as often as you can.”
— Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) May 3, 2025
~ Warren Buffettpic.twitter.com/NLv8rYWkLt
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